February 24, 2011
Did I ever mention that I hate February?
Always have, ever since I was a kid. I like a little winter here and there, but by February, I have had it. I need spring. Now. I even try to get pumped up by planting a few garden seeds:
Not even onions and some hot peppers can help right now. Not when my trees looked like this yesterday:
It melted today, but they're calling for us to get more freezing rain tonight, followed by 6-10 inches of snow and wind tomorrow. The only thing we have going for us right now is that when we turn over the calendar on Tuesday, the word "Spring" will be there.
Yeah, it's still March. I can dream. Oh, and that damn rodent who predicted an early spring will be eating buckshot next February 2.
OK, I did manage to escape from the Ice Age last week to Northern California and Stitches West. As always, a very good time.
Once I got there.
I'll keep this short. My letter to American Airlines ran two pages, single spaced. First of all, they screwed up my reservation. The original flight I booked was cancelled; of course, I booked a flight that landed at 11:30 AM in San Jose so that I could take a 1:30 PM class (the airport is 10 minutes from the Convention Center). They booked me on a flight that got me there at 2:30. I called to complain, and eventually I was booked on a Continental flight.
Day before the flight, I couldn't check in. Basically, whatever American did meant I had no seat on the plane. A very nice woman on the phone booked me to San Francisco to a flight that landed at 9:50 AM. Other than a new problem with a rental car, that was fine.
Until I boarded. Both planes wound up with mechanical problems, then there was weather in San Francisco. After being bound to the steel beast for 7 hours, we landed.
In San Jose. At 12:30. Still had time to deplane and get to my class. Yay!
Of course, you need a gate to do that. We didn't get one for the hour and fifteen minutes we were on the ground. Even though gates were free. Got into San Francisco at 3:40 PM. Sat down at the Convention Center bar at 4:30. Tired. Achy. Cranky. Starving. And about $100 in the hole from the experience.
I did manage to do damage at the Market that night, though. The final haul:
1. A beautiful cardigan kit from Prism yarns
2. Kauni yarn to use on another cardigan with yarn I already have in the stash
3. More Kauni yarn to use on another cardigan I have the pattern for
4. Yarn from Shelridge Farms to do yet another cardigan
(notice a pattern here....shopping for need...so not me)
5. Sock yarn from Miss Bab's (my new favorite vendor)
6. A skein of Black Water Abbey worsted for a pair of mittens
7. Miss Bab's light worsted to go with #3 in the same cardigan
8. Vest pattern to use up fancy yarn around this place
9. Cardigan pattern for #2
I cannot believe how unimpulsive a buyer I was this year. I came real close to grabbing a set of those sweet Addi Turbo Clicks, but I couldn't rationalize the cost when I know I can get them much cheaper on eBay. That, and my birthday is coming. I also held off on purchasing a very cool loom. I do not need another hobby right now.
Now, I can't start anything new until the old stuff is done. Right now, I have some Lismore Sheep Farm wool from Christmas on the needles:
The pattern is from a 2005 issue of Twists and Turns by Janet Szabo. A very simple cable pattern, but it looks so nice in this color. I urge anyone who wants a nice worsted wool to check out the selection at Lismore (it's in Nova Scotia--mom said that the gal on the phone remembered our family as "the family from Ohio that was staying out on the Cape" from when we visited several years ago--pretty impressive). Anyhow, the yarn is a dream to work with, it wears like iron, and it cables like nothing else. Gotta get it done.
Back to Stitches. I did manage to take two classes. I had an all-day class with Beth Brown-Reinsel on Twined Fingerless Mitts. What a great instructor she was! Lots of samples of the technique, lots of hands-on help, and a great sampler pattern. I managed to finish one mitt in the hotel bar after the class (red wine helps one knit), and the second mitt was finished on my flight from San Jose to Houston.
To top it off, they fit! The interesting thing to view is the inside:
Every stitch starts with a twist of the yarn. It makes for a very warm and surprisingly elastic fabric. I have another pattern to try with the Black Water Abbey yarn. Interestingly, she raved about their product because of its Z twist. Most commercial yarns have an S twist. Twining adds more S twist to the yarn, so it eventually gets twisted and messy. The Z twist yarns don't have that problem.
Guess you have to be there.
I also took a class on Beaded Crocheted Ropes with Karen Whooley. Now, I'm no crocheter. I was in the room, however, with several women who knew their way around a granny square. There was also one woman who sat right in front who basically thought the class was only being taught to her. Karen is trying to go slowly and very step-by-step, assuming there were several non-crochet pros in the room. Speedy Gonzales basically was rushing her along before all of us were ready. I was ready to kill. So, when Karen asked if we were all following, I piped up and yelled "NO!" She then moved over to our side of the room to check on all our work, and Speedy shut her pie hole.
Of course, our little expert spent a better part of the class break announcing that Karen's technique was wrong, she shouldn't be using slip stitch, she should be single crocheting, yada, yada, yada. Hey, lady, go teach your own class! I was enjoying this one. I finished the bracelet I started a couple of nights ago.
I think I found a cool way to use up some beads around here. The funny part of this whole thing, though, is that I took this class to finally finish up a kit I purchased a year ago that I just couldn't figure out. Now that I have the technique down, I can't find the kit.
And the cats aren't talking.